


sweettalk my heart

by thefudge



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: (more like they're both aware and unaware of those latent feelings), Bittersweet, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28922664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefudge/pseuds/thefudge
Summary: A small moment or two at prom (5x01).
Relationships: Jughead Jones/Veronica Lodge
Comments: 17
Kudos: 127





	sweettalk my heart

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. i love naming jeronica fics after tove lo songs  
> 2\. i have, like, no real free time to speak of right now, but i still wanted to write a lil something about them  
> 3\. i'm a cheeseball, as i keep reminding yall

They’re bumping elbows, dancing to one of those 90s garage bands like there’s no tomorrow, laughing with open mouths and huddling close, jumping on the balls of their feet. Archie’s got an arm around her shoulders and Betty’s grabbed on to his waist. There’s a sense that this will be their lives forever and it’s a happy, but slightly disturbing prospect. Normally, prom is the time where you reflect on the different paths you will take in life, but Veronica feels this bubbling sense of claustrophobia, like she’ll never really have any other friends. When she looks up, she sees a giant picture of her and Archie and Betty on the screen, magnified and magnetic, and it only makes her queasier.

She accidentally steps on Jughead’s foot.

“Oh, sorry!”

She plants a hand into his chest to stop from stepping on his other foot too, and he doesn’t miss a beat as he lifts her hand and makes her do a twirl, which is admittedly, pretty smooth for someone who actively avoided school dances.

She grins at him and he grins back. He’s still holding her hand.

The first notes of _Jump in the Line_ start playing in the background and everyone around them goes wild.

“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!” they scream at each other and into each other's faces, euphoric and proud. But when they look around them, they’re the only two people who even thought about it.

Veronica smiles awkwardly and slides back into Archie’s arms. Jughead nods and is led away by Betty.

“Hey, Winona.”

Veronica quickly wipes the dark smudge under her eye and fans her face.

Jughead’s smile turns into a thin, concerned line. He hadn’t expected to run into a crying Veronica Lodge in the hallway.

“Whoa, you okay? What happened?”

Veronica does her best attempt at a smile. “Oh, I’m fine. I just got a little misty-eyed about…graduation and leaving.”

Jughead chews on his lip. “Are you sure it’s only that?”

“I’m sure,” she laughs, the wetness on her face somehow becoming more pronounced.

“Do you want to talk about it or do you want me to leave you alone?”

That’s what she likes about him. He knows when comfort is an intrusion. And yet, she doesn't want him to go. 

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” she suddenly asks, regretting it instantly. 

“Where did _that_ come from?”

“I don’t know…” she hugs her arms, feeling the words spill out against her will. “I guess I wonder if maybe there’s something wrong with me.”

“Have you met the people in this town? Everyone’s got something wrong with them. You’re probably the least _wrong_ one here.”

Veronica smiles, wipes another tear. "Since when do you have such a high opinion of me?" 

“Okay, this is _not_ about graduation,” he says, taking a step closer. “Is it about Archie? I saw you guys talking earlier. It looked kind of tense.”

She’s slightly taken aback that he noticed, but then again, he has always watched all of them, carefully.

“No, there was no tension, we were only -”

But then she doesn’t know what to say. How to explain. 

“We just…never seem to get it right.”

There’s a moment of unmapped silence. She lets the words hang there. 

Jughead quirks up his mouth in sympathy. “You’ve been through a lot together, though.”

Veronica looks up at him. “You’ve been through a lot with Archie too, and somehow, you two are closer than he and I will ever be.”

He furrows his brow. “That's not true. Did…did something happen between you? Did Archie make you feel like there’s something wrong with you?”

Oh, he's good. Of course he is. If he digs a little deeper, he might just find out about it all on his own.

But she’d never do that to him.

“If that’s the case, then you should absolutely not take it to heart,” Jughead continues, undeterred. “I love the guy, but Archie’s kind of a dumbass sometimes. He doesn’t know how lucky he got with you, or he _knows_ , but tends to forget and get complacent about it, because you’re always there for him. He just needs to be reminded, is all.”

Veronica smiles. She takes a step closer. She stands on her toes and kisses his cheek, holding one hand on his shoulder.

There’s something very warm about it.

His hand almost instinctively lifts to her waist, as if to make sure she won't lose her balance, but he quickly drops it when she stands back.

“Thank you, Jughead.”

They stare at each other for a beat too long. It's like being part of a crowd and being the only two people who recognize something. A song, a movie, a feeling. It’s familiar at this point.

He wants to tell her he liked her singing at _La Bonne Nuit_ the other night. He wants to ask her if she was feeling inexplicably sad then too, because there's always something tender and melancholy about her singing, even when there's no reason for it. It makes him want to look at her closely, to see if he can find the source of it, the well of her mystery. He doesn't think about her too often, and yet, she's always right on the cusp of his thoughts. 

He doesn't get a chance to tell her. 

They can hear the principal preparing to announce the prom queen.

“We should probably…” she mumbles. 

“After you, Winona.”

Veronica moves away from him, the green tulle of her dress like the lick of a serpent at his ankle.

“What were you doing out here, by the way?” she asks, before they step back inside.

“Oh, I can only do three slow-dances at a time. Anything beyond that goes against my contract.”

Veronica snorts. “It was when they started playing Berlin, wasn’t it?”

He smiles a rueful smile. “Look, _Take My Breath Away_ is where I draw the line.”

“It’s probably also in poor taste given its very _literal_ application to so many murders in this town.”

Jughead chuckles. “Guess you’re no longer sad about saying goodbye to this shindig, huh?”

She smiles at him, and there’s hope in that smile.

“No, I guess not.”


End file.
